NHL heading to Winnipeg!!! - Page 9

Gdoggy · #**161** Posted **May 13, 2010, 7:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by freeweed

why not try an AHL franchise?

Because to those rednecks AHL = Arizona Hates Latinos

Distill3d · #**162** Posted **May 13, 2010, 8:24 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by freeweed

Funny, I've actually been wondering this myself. If Phoenix wants to PROVE it can support hockey, and NEEDS a tenant for 41 nights (basically the whole reason we're still discussing this)... why not try an AHL franchise?

It's not like people in Phoenix have grown up with 100 years of NHL history. Would they even understand the difference?

Prove you can support an AHL team first, then we'll talk about an NHL franchise. Plus, the ticket prices for the Phoenix Moose would be comparable to the 2009-10 Coyotes tickets.

Phoenix had several incarnations of a team named the Roadrunners. They played in the WHA, ECHL, and IHL. They all folded for financial based reasons. Kinda proves hockey doesn't really work.

That said, I agree, if they want to prove that hockey can work down there, they should get an AHL team first to fill the void.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gdoggy

Because to those rednecks AHL = Arizona Hates Latinos

LMAO! That's low...but funny.

freeweed · #**163** Posted **May 13, 2010, 9:24 PM**

Oh yeah, I completely forgot about their "I" team!

Distill3d · #**164** Posted **May 13, 2010, 9:38 PM**

LOL I think everyone did.

dennis · #**165** Posted **May 14, 2010, 3:38 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by freeweed

Prove you can support an AHL team first, then we'll talk about an NHL franchise.

I hope nobody from Hamilton reads that...

freeweed · #**166** Posted **May 14, 2010, 3:50 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dennis

I hope nobody from Hamilton reads that...

Hamilton could easily support an NHL franchise, even if 0 people from Hamilton itself went to the games. There's 4.99 million people in Toronto who never ever get to see live hockey who I'm sure would love to drive the hour to Copps.

And people in Toronto actually *do* understand the difference between N and A.

rrskylar · #**167** Posted **May 14, 2010, 4:43 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by freeweed

Funny, I've actually been wondering this myself. If Phoenix wants to PROVE it can support hockey, and NEEDS a tenant for 41 nights (basically the whole reason we're still discussing this)... why not try an AHL franchise?

It's not like people in Phoenix have grown up with 100 years of NHL history. Would they even understand the difference?

Prove you can support an AHL team first, then we'll talk about an NHL franchise. Plus, the ticket prices for the Phoenix Moose would be comparable to the 2009-10 Coyotes tickets.

Hamilton can hardly support an AHL franchise yet they somehow feel they should be first in line for an NHL team! Incidentally the hockey hotbeds of Las Vegas, Kansas City, OK City, Seattle and Quebec City can't even support an AHL franchise.

SteelTown · #**168** Posted **May 14, 2010, 11:32 AM**

Hamilton is on the road to winning the Calder Cup again.

Distill3d · #**169** Posted **May 14, 2010, 12:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrskylar

Hamilton can hardly support an AHL franchise yet they somehow feel they should be first in line for an NHL team! Incidentally the hockey hotbeds of Las Vegas, Kansas City, OK City, Seattle and Quebec City can't even support an AHL franchise.

Seattle, Vegas, and KC have never had AHL teams to support.

OKC gets one starting next year, and hasn't had any issue supporting its previous professional team in the Central Hockey League.

Quebec's last AHL team had good fan support and success, but merged with the Hamilton Bulldogs in an effort to keep the AHL in Hamilton.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Hamilton is on the road to winning the Calder Cup again.

Just because your team is on the road to winning a championship doesn't mean its doing well all around. Remember, both the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup.

SteelTown · #**170** Posted **May 14, 2010, 12:53 PM**

Think you can get a family pack of tickets per game for like $25. That's how the attendance is during the playoffs.

There's rumours that the Bulldogs owner had enough with Hamilton and the whole NHL drama that they might move to Laval, they are currently building an arena.

flar · #**171** Posted **May 14, 2010, 1:14 PM**

I went to a Bulldogs game once. It was the most boring hockey game I've seen in my life, not to mention I never heard the name of even one player on either team. Beer was like $9.00 and the tickets were over $20. No wonder there were only about 3000 people in attendance. Copps Coliseum seemed empty even though the entire upper deck was curtained off.

SteelTown · #**172** Posted **May 14, 2010, 1:55 PM**

I know one name from the Bulldogs, Subban! But Montreal took him two weeks ago. Another name I know is Carey Price, helped win us the Calder Cup. Again Montreal took him.

AuxTown · #**173** Posted **May 14, 2010, 8:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by freeweed

Hamilton could easily support an NHL franchise, even if 0 people from Hamilton itself went to the games. There's 4.99 million people in Toronto who never ever get to see live hockey who I'm sure would love to drive the hour to Copps.

And people in Toronto actually *do* understand the difference between N and A.

This is a huge misconception. People keep mistaking Toronto for a "hockey town" when it clearly isn't. It is a "Leafs town" and they will support the Leafs to the death, but they always have attendance trouble for other franchises. So, if you think people from Toronto are going to fight 401 and QEW traffic to see an expansion team in Hamilton then you're sadly mistaken.

yaletown_fella · #**174** Posted **May 15, 2010, 12:13 AM**

Inner city toronto is a bball/futboll town

"Leafs town" is the 905

Mister F · #**175** Posted **May 15, 2010, 1:12 AM**

^Hockey is still very popular in the inner city, it's just that other sports are too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by O-Town Hockey

This is a huge misconception. People keep mistaking Toronto for a "hockey town" when it clearly isn't. It is a "Leafs town" and they will support the Leafs to the death, but they always have attendance trouble for other franchises. So, if you think people from Toronto are going to fight 401 and QEW traffic to see an expansion team in Hamilton then you're sadly mistaken.

The GTA supports an NHL team, an AHL team, and 3 OHL teams. It clearly is a hockey town. Besides, how do you know Leafs fans wouldn't see another NHL team when there's been no competition in 85 years? There are plenty of hockey fans in the area that hate the Leafs.

DHLawrence · #**176** Posted **May 15, 2010, 1:41 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by O-Town Hockey

So, if you think people from Toronto are going to fight 401 and QEW traffic to see an expansion team in Hamilton then you're sadly mistaken.

Stuff Toronto then--there's still a good chunk of the population in Mississauga, Brampton, Milton, Oakville, Burlington, Brantford, Cambridge, KW, and Guelph who would love to see an NHL game without fighting the QEW *into* Toronto, not to mention the half-million people in Hamilton itself.

Mille Sabords · #**177** Posted **May 15, 2010, 1:46 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrskylar

Hamilton can hardly support an AHL franchise yet they somehow feel they should be first in line for an NHL team! Incidentally the hockey hotbeds of Las Vegas, Kansas City, OK City, Seattle and Quebec City can't even support an AHL franchise.

Well, I don't blame Hamiltonians or Winnipeggers or Quebecers for not supporting AHL teams. Those cities are all major league cities, it's insulting in a way to merely serve them with an AHL club, which to add insult to injury, is the farm team of an NHL city.

dennis · #**178** Posted **May 15, 2010, 2:22 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Hamilton is on the road to winning the Calder Cup again.

But do they actually win the cup if there is no one there to see it.

If a tree falls... (you know.)

Just Kidding, Hamilton would be an excellent market. All you need is an upgrade of Copp's Coliseum and/or a new arena and a more careful ownership group.

freeweed · #**179** Posted **May 15, 2010, 2:23 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by O-Town Hockey

This is a huge misconception. People keep mistaking Toronto for a "hockey town" when it clearly isn't. It is a "Leafs town" and they will support the Leafs to the death, but they always have attendance trouble for other franchises. So, if you think people from Toronto are going to fight 401 and QEW traffic to see an expansion team in Hamilton then you're sadly mistaken.

To be fair you'd know a lot better than I, with my handful of visits to Toronto, and I've never lived in eastern Ontario before.

But... what other franchises? I don't know that there's ever been anything close to the Leafs to even compare it to, so I'm not sure your statement is entirely fair. You may be right, but I just don't see what evidence there is for it. I'll defer to you because you likely know the city 100x better than I do, but what exactly makes you say that?

And as another posted mentioned, when westerners say "Toronto" we really mean the entire GTA. K-W and Hamilton alone is a huge market, nevermind the dozens of other sizable cities nearby.

dennis · #**180** Posted **May 15, 2010, 2:37 AM**

Perhaps the success of the Manitoba Moose in attracting large crowds may in fact be a good indication of a hockey starved market. If people want to attend Moose games in such numbers, perhaps it is one factor that might be a measurement of the Winnipeg market. I am not saying that this same measurement applies to Hamilton, Quebec City, or every other Canadian city. Hamilton and Quebec I believe would make just as good a location as Winnipeg, (if not better), but it is one tool that we in Winnipeg may use to guage the desire for NHL hockey.